Teachers strongly believe that far too much time is spent on student testing, surveys show

This Atlantic article summarizes a variety of recent surveys and studies that come to a single clear conclusion: Teachers throughout the nation feel that there is far too much time spent on testing students. On average, it says, teachers estimate spending 14 days preparing students for state-mandated exams, and 12 days for district-mandated exams, and eight in 10 teachers think their students spend too much time taking government-mandated tests.

Related to that, it says, many teachers are losing a commitment to their field amid multiple frustrations, including pressures around testing.

“While the teaching profession in the U.S. may not be in full blown crisis, … forces outside of teachers’ control may be taxing their good will and dedication,” it says, quoting a recent Center on Education Policy report titled Listen to Us: Teacher Views and Voices. “The most notable stressors revealed by the survey are the time devoted to testing, changing demands from outside the classroom, and teachers’ perceptions that they lack a voice in major decisions.”

Read the entire Atlantic article:

Eight in 10 teachers think their students spend too much time taking government-mandated tests. Please consider disabling it for our site, or supporting our work in one of these ways Subscribe Now > It’s not hard to find a teacher willing to bend your ear about the volume of standardized testing in schools today, and the pressure for “test prep.”

Read more about the Center on Education Policy report:

“While the survey responses shine a light on the stresses teachers face, they also point to some remedies that teachers believe could improve teaching conditions,” said Diane Stark Rentner, deputy director of the Center On Education Policy.